The Chocolate Cherry on a Failed Cake
by Ajalea
Summary: Zoro's been trying really hard to give Sanji something on Valentine's Day he made himself, but things don't really work out as he planned. On the other hand, Sanji wants to do something in return, and he knows how to make his moss ball happy ;) Valentine fic for Yuushishio


**This is my Valentine Gift for the lovely Yuushishio :D I want to thank a certain fairytale for fixing some stuff I had done wrong (thank you!)**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy~ :3**

* * *

A massive flow of curse words sounded through the kitchen. Zoro pulled another batch out of the oven, only to see those too didn't turn out the way they should be.

Zoro checked the clock. He grunted when he found out it was already two in the morning. It was already Valentine's Day and nothing went according to plan…

With a quick sweep, the disastrous cupcakes ended up in the trash. Looking at his creations, Zoro thought for a moment. He had ingredients for one last cake and had to calculate how much time it would take to bake it. It took him a few minutes, but in the end Zoro decided it was worth a try. After a small break.

The small break become a long break, as Zoro had fallen asleep and he only woke up to the sun shining in his face. He shot up, wide awake only to realize it was not even 7 am yet. After a quick wash-up, Zoro returned to the kitchen with renewed energy.

He hadn't noticed last night with the little lighting, but the kitchen was a complete mess. Zoro figured he would have just about enough time to finish his cake and clean up before Sanji came home. After so many failed attempts, Zoro convinced himself he knew the recipe well enough not to check it again.

Almost four hours, more curse words than an average person would say in a year and a mentally broken Zoro later, he had given up. Zoro ran everything through his head to check what he had done wrong and found nothing that could have caused this result. When the cake had completely cooled down, he made a last ditch attempt to fix it by decorating it with a red ribbon (and maybe it was slightly used to keep everything together) and draw two hearts on it with icing. With a little bit of imagination, you could clearly see the heart shapes. Or that was what Zoro wanted to believe.

Sanji would be able to see that he tried, at least. Showing you had some result was better than having nothing but food thrown away and ingredients that you couldn't use anymore. Maybe that way he wouldn't be so angry… Very precisely, Zoro piled all the dirty utensils up, ready to be cleaned.

The baking, and mostly the stress over the baking, had tired Zoro out again and this time too, he wanted to take a quick nap. It was almost 10, and Sanji said he wouldn't be home until at least 4, so Zoro had plenty of time to sleep, clean and do the dishes. He settled on the couch, closed his eyes and soon, his snoring vibrated through the room.

* * *

Sanji checked his phone again while standing in front of the door to their apartment. He'd sent the person on the other side of the door a text that he would be home earlier. Zoro hadn't texted him back yet and although it had happened before, Sanji worried the guy was out and wouldn't be back until late. Spending Valentine's Day on your own was lonely.

He opened the door and was welcomed by a weird and kind of unpleasant smell. Quickly, he followed his nose, but before ending up in the kitchen, Sanji found Zoro. The green-haired man was sprawled out on the couch, snoring like a madman. The sight made Sanji smile; God knew how much he missed his Marimo.

Going back to the hallway, Sanji brought his stuff in and closed the door behind him. Again, his nose caught the smell. Sanji followed his way back, passing Zoro in the process. He ended up in the kitchen, where the sight baffled the cook. Everywhere he looked, the kitchen screamed terror, like something had gone horribly wrong. The counter looked like it had been snowing inside the apartment, the eggs weren't put away in the cabinet they usually were and an empty milk bottle was standing between a mountain of dirty dishes. Sanji could see Zoro had at least been trying to be a good boy, as most of the dishes seemed to relate to the mess he saw. _He deserved a little reward that later tonight for trying_.

Careful, trying not to wake Zoro, Sanji cleaned the kitchen the best he could in a few minutes. In the corner of the counter, next to the fridge, he located the biggest mess. At first, Sanji thought it was just some leftover food Zoro hadn't used – to eat or for whatever he had wanted to bake with zero skills – but when he took a closer look, the _thing_ turned out to be Zoro's final product. It was a disaster though. The cake, if it really was a cake, was black. Not the chocolate kind of dark color, but burnt black. Sanji poked the cake, expecting it to be rock hard, but it fell apart under his touch. One part lay crumbled into pieces next to the rest and it was clearly visible Zoro had tried to fix it by putting a ribbon around the cake, which didn't work. On top of it, the not-so-baking-talent had drawn something, Sanji could guess what it was, and it made the cake even look worse, because Zoro failed even with the icing. The apparent hearts were a cute detail, though drawn quite poorly. It didn't matter to Sanji, it warmed his heart already Zoro had tried so hard.

The only thing Sanji couldn't find, and he searched very thoroughly, was a recipe. Zoro could've gotten it from his cell, but Sanji doubted it, Zoro wasn't too good with anything that required electricity. The possibility of Zoro creating something straight from his mind was hilarious, but since there was no evidence to be found, Sanji left it at that. Instead, he grabbed two bags of groceries and started preparing the dessert he would serve tonight. Tempering chocolate wasn't the hardest thing in the world and soon Sanji was finished with his preparations, including filling the bonbons.

He put the mold in the fridge and decided it was time to wake up the snoring moss ball.

* * *

A familiar voice sounded through the room. Zoro moved his face for a bit, wrinkling his eyebrows.

"Oi, Zoro."

After a full five seconds, Zoro recognized the voice. He opened his eyes to see Sanji hovering over him.

"Good morning, shitty Marimo." Sanji's smile didn't look genuine, more like a sarcastic grin that would be the last thing you saw while alive.

"You're home…" Zoro muttered, more to himself than to Sanji.

"Well duh. Glad to see the welcoming party had noticed too." Sanji moved his head so Zoro could sit straight up. Sanji dropped himself on the couch next to Zoro. He loosened his tie and put his feet on the coffee table. A deep sigh escaped his lips.

"God, I'm so tired."

Zoro hid a yawn behind his hand. "Yeah, me too."

"Of course you are, you lazy moss ball." Sanji poked Zoro in his sides, frowning. "You've worked so hard, haven't you, ruining all those perfect baking ingredients with those shitty cupcakes you made."

Zoro cringed a little hearing those words. He perfectly knew what he had done and he also knew he actually should have gotten rid of everything before Sanji came home. _It was already too late for that though_.

"You saw that, huh…" There was no way to hide that now anyway, so he should/could just come clear about it.

"Yep, I did. If you want to surprise me, my dear patch of grass, you should cover your tracks a little bit better."

Zoro smiled apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that. It was supposed to turn out more… successful."

Sanji snorted. "Thought so."

"Well sorry that I'm not as talented as you in the kitchen." The words left Zoro's mouth before he could stop them.

Sanji was baffled for a few seconds. "Wow, the great kind moss ball has recognized me, a mere low cook, to be of any help." He winked.

Now Zoro too started laughing. "Alright, you win. I'll clean in a moment, okay? But first-"

Sanji didn't have time to react before Zoro leaned over him and let their lips touch for a brief moment.

"Welcome home, dartbrow."

"I'm back." Sanji smiled in return. "Shitty Marimo."

Zoro didn't seem to intend to clean the kitchen, so instead, they were sitting next to each other without saying anything. The silence stretched out for what felt like an eternity and after a while, it made them both a bit uncomfortable. Zoro wanted to say something, but all he could think about was the cake, that was ready to be eaten. If anyone dared. At the same moment, Sanji seemed to have read Zoro's thoughts and opened his mouth to say something.

"What about trying a piece of work of art of yours?" Zoro could hear he wouldn't be alone in the tasting, so he agreed and one stood to grab two plates and the other picked up the cake and a knife to slice it.

Zoro gave Sanji the honor of the slicing. The knife went through pretty smooth and the inside didn't look as bad as the burnt outside. Being the one guilty of this baking crime, Zoro took the first bite.

Sanji carefully studied Zoro's face and burst out laughing when he spit out the piece of cake he was chewing on.

"Ew. Don't eat it." Zoro commented as if his face didn't say enough already. Sanji giggled.

"At least that's enough evidence you won't survive without me." He said. Sanji didn't actually want to try the cake, but couldn't help himself from taking a small bite. What Zoro said was very accurate. He shouldn't have eaten it. While the outside looked (and tasted!) like it was burnt, the inside was made of a substance that couldn't be called 'cake'. With some trouble, Sanji swallowed and immediately, he regretted his actions. The aftertaste was even worse than the initial flavor and even though it probably was supposed to be a chocolate cake, he tasted everything but the chocolate.

Disgusted, both put down their plates on the coffee table and before Sanji knew it, they were laughing about it. This was one of the very few times Zoro had tried to do something for him, and every single time it had gone wrong. The fact that Zoro cared enough to try was cute, but next time he planned to cook, Sanji would give him cooking lessons or something.

"Shall we throw this away and never speak of it again?" Sanji asked.

Zoro agreed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

* * *

Sanji was dozing off while lying against Zoro. They had been watching a movie for the past hour and Sanji was bored. Zoro was the one to pick the movie (it was Sanji's turn last time), and he'd picked Angels and Demons, because they'd never seen it before and Zoro heard from someone it was a good movie. Unfortunately for Sanji, he didn't like it. He'd read the book a long time ago and had actually visited the places those Bernini statues stood. The movie liked to portray those places quite differently and the moment Sanji found out, he lost interest. The soundtrack was good though, it was soothing like a lullaby and Sanji almost fell asleep.

Zoro on the other hand, was watching the screen intensively. There was this moment a bomb was hidden somewhere in the Vatican and Zoro's eyes checked every pixel of the screen to see if he could find it. Sanji didn't understand, even the main character couldn't find the damn thing, so why would he? Also, the blond already knew what was going to happen, which meant that he didn't have to pay much attention and in no time, tiredness took over Sanji's mind and he was fast asleep.

It felt like only seconds had passed when Sanji felt someone poking his head. "The movie ended, you know."

He opened his eyes and saw that indeed, the credits were rolling on the screen. "What time is it?" Sanji asked while rubbing his eyes.

Zoro checked a clock. "Almost 6. You were out cold, didn't you get much sleep last night?"

"I told you already I was tired. That shitty old man went on for too long about his business. He thinks I'm not capable enough to take over the restaurant when he retires next year."

Zoro removed a few stray hairs from Sanji's face. "I bet he knows that you're the best. He's the one who raised you after all."

"I guess…" Sanji responded, not really convinced. Zoro noticed the lack of enthusiasm and brought up another important matter.

"What's for dinner, anyway?" Whenever Sanji was in a bad mood, thinking about food would help. Immediately, his face brightened.

"Good thing for you I did my own grocery shopping." Sanji started. "But it'll be simple, I have a nice dessert prepared for your sorry ass."

Zoro snorted, but didn't comment any further, so Sanji replaced his warm spot on the couch with his favorite working spot. Aside from dinner, he had everything for the rest of the night already planned out.

With much caution, Sanji took the mold from the fridge that he'd put in a few hours before and checked if the chocolate had stiffened up good enough. Luckily, it had and now Sanji was able to put the chocolates in their box, a light blue one, decorated with a white ribbon, ready to give them to Zoro when the time came.

Dinner went on as usual. Sanji told the green-haired man about a lot of things he did when he was gone, one of the things negotiating with Zeff about taking over the business and another thing was meeting up with one of Zeff's business partners. Sanji's conclusion was that it had been boring and he'd missed home. Zoro smiled at that fact and in turn, he reported to Sanji how everyone was doing and two meet-ups they were having next week.

Dinner was finished and Zoro didn't ask about the dessert Sanji had mentioned. He didn't know what kind of surprise it would be, so he kept his mouth shut, waiting for Sanji to talk.

* * *

Sanji laughed at something he was reading on his phone.

"What's so funny?" Zoro asked curiously.

Quickly, Sanji hid the screen. "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me." Zoro raised an eyebrow, waiting for an honest answer.

"… I may have told Robin about your cake. She said she'd rather get hit by a train than eat a piece of it."

"I'm gonna murder your ass!" Zoro reacted and he tried to grab Sanji's waist, but the flexibility of the cook worked in his own advantage.

"Not if I kill yours first!" Sanji laughed. He knew Zoro wasn't angry, or else he would have smashed the blond through the window already. (He'd try, but according to Sanji, Zoro wouldn't succeed in doing that.)

Zoro tried again and failed even harder than the first time. In his attempt to get a hold of Sanji, he fell off the couch and ended up on the ground. Sanji, standing next to the fallen figure and without a second thought, he swiftly sat down on Zoro's back and held him down firmly.

"You know, you owe me money."

"Oh? Gonna pull a Nami on me?" That earned Zoro a hit on the back of his head.

"Don't insult her, moss for brains, or I'm gonna tie you up in an uncomfortable position and leave you here like that for the night."

"I get it, I get it." Zoro tried to push Sanji away. "Can you get off my back now? Please?"

"Only because you asked nicely." The moment Sanji stood and his hands let go off Zoro's wrists, Zoro turned the tables. With careful precision, he dropped Sanji on the couch by pushing with his knee against Sanji's butt. He landed softly and now Zoro was on top.

"So, where were we?" Zoro's devilish grin spread on his face.

"You were going to get my dessert." Sanji told the other matter-of-factly. "And I bet you're gonna like it."

Zoro raised his eyebrows and wanted to question Sanji. The latter quickly shut him up by talking again, dead serious this time. "Just go get it, Zoro."

Zoro got up and went to the kitchen. When he came back with a big box, of which he thought was what Sanji had meant, the blond was already on the couch again, lighting up a cigarette. They looked at each other expectantly, like the other was supposed to speak first.

"So," Sanji gestured at the present, "open it."

Zoro, prepared for a hidden surprise, lifted the lid and looked inside. His eyes widened when he saw the chocolate laid out for him. He didn't know, but Sanji had tried his best to find fitting shapes for the chocolates. He had been searching for weeks, until Zeff suddenly said he knew someone who could carve the shapes he wanted. After Sanji had obtained the mold, he'd wanted to be home as quickly as he could. And so Zoro was able to hold a small katana-shaped sword in his hand.

Zoro's eyes were shining brightly, glued to Sanji's creation.

"Go on, they're here to be eaten."

Zoro looked Sanji in the eye when he bit off a piece. Almost instantly, he ate the other half of the sword in his hand and wanted to grab another one. If he didn't have any manners at all, Zoro might have eaten the whole box in one go.

"What's in it? They're good." Those last words were the ones Sanji had wanted to hear.

Beaming himself, he responded vaguely. "Something I got from my old man. He said you'd like it, so I used it."

"Thank your old man next time you talk to him. These things are amazing!"

"I'll take that as a compliment. Happy Valentine's Day, Zoro." Sanji smiled, glad everything turned out okay.

Zoro dropped himself on the couch in the same manner as Sanji had done that afternoon. He offered the blond the box, who grabbed a mini sword too. "You too, Sanji."


End file.
